A Little Touch of Spice

I love the idea of going out to breakfast with friends and family. You can catch up and still having the day ahead of you. I love the idea but the reality if often very different. Many places do not take bookings for breakfast, instead preferring to make their valued customers queue. Even if you can get a booking, the menu is often run of the mill or doesn’t cater for simple dietary requirements. Or, the meals you receive in no way measure up to the exotic description on the menu. I am very happy to report then that Azafran in Annerley meets and exceeds what I consider to be reasonable expectations regarding breakfast.

Azafran is the Spanish word for Saffron and is a suburban casual bistro that has been going great guns for nearly 10 years. It had been for dinner a number of years ago and recall it being quite cutting edge for a local diner but since moving to a different part of town, I hadn’t been back. Located in an old workers cottage, it’s gone through a few face lifts in it’s time and along the way has started serving breakfast.

We arrived, were greeted and seated in the small dining area near the entry and coffee machine. If you can, grab a spot on the small deck or in the larger dining room out the back as it can get quite noisy with the coffee grinder going non stop on a Saturday morning. There were lots of interesting items on the menu and some quite surprising for breakfast such as the Pulled Pork Roll w preserved lemon aioli ($10) and Felafel Wrap ($10). Surprising but welcome.

Hot Breakfast

There are Corn Fritters hiding under that salad…

Between us we ordered a Hot Breakfast w free range eggs, smoked bacon, smoked paprika & pork sausages, potato has & tomato relish ($18); Croque Monsieur w free range leg ham, gruyere, watercress and dijon mustard ($12); Sweet Corn Fritters w cherry tomato compote, avocado puree, lardons, rocket & yoghurt garlic dressing ($16); and, House Baked Croissant w free range ham, cheese, tomato & dijon mustard ($8) with a side of haloumi ($4). It was no time at all before the plates were delivered and the meals, were enormous! I could rave about the individual meals but the consistent theme across the lot was ‘quality’. It wasn’t just any old ham out of the packet but slices of thick cut. The cheese was flavoursome Gruyere, not catering cheese slices. A robust dijon mustard gave piquancy and kick. Toast was sourdough slabs and dressing was out of the kitchen, not out the bottle. There was also the biggest country sausage I have ever seen. (‘That’s what she said’)

I was also been keen on the Pork Croquettes w spiced apple & tomato chutney and saw that being delivered to a table outside. It looked great and though I didn’t taste it, I don’t think you could go far wrong with ordering it yourself.

Croque Monsieur

An easy breakfast on an easy Saturday morning. Azafran didn’t skip a beat as far as service, quality or quantity of meal. There was certainly no lunch required that day. They ticked the boxes as far as taking bookings and in offering up something a little different in the menu options. Worth another visit any time.

Azafran was our local for quite a few years when we lived at Tarragindi, and I still miss it keenly. Right from their opening week, they had breakfast under control, and it seems as though they've only gotten better and better. Will definitely have to make the trek to the old stomping ground for a visit.